It is not uncommon for a person to lose the use of an airway passage by virtue of having a piece of food or the like lodge in the passageway or a constriction caused by trauma. Since a restriction in the air passageway to the lungs can be a life threatening situation, particularly where the total supply of air is stopped, quick emergency attention is required by that person. In a number of these situations, such as in choking, it is possible to remove the obstruction in a nonevasive manner. However in many situations it is necessary to perform percutaneous transtracheal ventilation or tracheotomy.
A number of devices have been proposed to perform emergency laryngeal-tracheal operations (cricothyrostomy). For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,906,956; 4,331,138; 3,476,113; and 4,003,381 disclose devices which facilitate the creation of an airway into the lumen of the trachea. However, a disadvantage of many of these devices is that they require the skill of a surgeon to insert. Additionally, the diameter of the device is such that the opening created is quite large and if not done precisely right, will damage organs and tissue surrounding the opening.
More recently, cricothyroidotomy instruments have been proposed that overcome a number of disadvantages of the prior art devices. An example of these devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,364,391 and 4,438,768. Basically, these devices provide a needle like means for connection to a ventilator used in the operating room, see also Scuderi et al. "Emergency Percutaneous Transtracheal Ventilation During Anesthesia Using Readily Available Equipment" Vol. 61, No. 10 Oct. 82, ANESTHESIA AND ANALGESIA. While these newer devices overcome many of the problems mentioned, they are not useful for performing emergency cricothyroidotomies in the field, especially by nonsurgical personnel.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an emergency percutaneous cricothyrotomy device which is selfcontained and capable of penetrating the cricothyroid membrane into the tracheal lumen and provide adequate emergency ventilation. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device by which a cricothyrotomy can be performed by a paramedic, medical or relatively undertrained medical person.